Roberts: We'll have to take it on the chin

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Interim head coach admits 3-2 defeat by West Ham was a bitter pill to swallow. 📷Kyle Hemsley

Luke Nicoli

2026-02-08T15:00+00:00

Interim head coach Chris Roberts was stunned by West Ham's late fightback. 📷Kyle Hemsley

Interim head coach Chris Roberts admitted it was a bitter pill to swallow as Albion let a two-goal lead slip against West Ham with just eight minutes of the game remaining.

The Seagulls looked to be heading for a second successive away win in the WSL but the Hammers fought back with three goals in a frenetic finale to the game.

“We're gutted,” Roberts said. “We're 2-0 up with less than ten minutes to go and we lose the game. It's painful, something we'll have to take on the chin, and there's not really a lot else to say.

“Credit to West Ham in terms of getting back in but we've opened the door with two very unavoidable goals and when you're at 2-2 you're under a lot of stress at that moment, in terms of momentum.

“But until the first goal went in, I felt really comfortable. We were 2-0 up and I thought the only team going to score again was us. It really is a hard pill to swallow but we have to learn from it.”

Albion had taken control with two well-taken goals in either half from Kiko Seike – her sixth of the season – and a first Seagulls goal for Manuela Vanegas, so there were positives to take from what ultimately proved to be a difficult afternoon.

“We competed well, we got ourselves ahead in the first half, scored another excellent goal in the second half to put ourselves in a great position, but we let it slip away,” Roberts added. “We need to be better in those moments to make sure we see the game out.”

Albion now have a week to get the game out of their systems with Arsenal the visitors to Broadfield Stadium next Sunday.

“We're coming up against one of the best teams in the world so we have to brush this game off quickly, swallow that bitter pill and start preparing,” added Roberts.